Young Obi-wan and Anakin visit the Death Star
by goanago
Summary: Years before Galen Erso finished his work with the Death Star, and sometime before the emerging rebel organization freed Lothal, the Emperor spent his free time playing with the high powers he had at hand. He was trying to follow in his Master's footsteps and experimenting with midichlorians to create life out of nothing. But without his guidance he was not being successful…
1. Chapter 1

Obi-wan stumbled with the little boy in his arms.

And then he froze; adrenaline shooting through his veins. The Dark Side of the Force was everywhere. He looked up to the towering humanoid in front of him who he knew had to be the Sith Master. The sheer power of his aura of hatred, fear and pain leaving little doubt as to where his alliances lay.

He had to be the Sith Master whose apprentice he had killed not that long ago.

The sleeping boy who he had been about to put in bed in their room in the Palace of Naboo shifted in his arms. His shields, already in place to hide his grief from the Council, tightened around them both to protect them as much as they could from the waves of cold Darkness permeating the room.

The Sith hadn't moved an inch, but his breather was a constant ominous noise in Obi-wan's ears, even louder than the beating of his heart.

How-?

Where-?

His eyes took notice of the lightsaber in the cyborg's belt. Obi-wan realized he had left his back in their quarters. His eyes roamed the black and bare room. No windows. Only one entrance.

"Obi-wan?"

The voice was deep, mechanical, and it made a shiver ran down his spine. His eyes shot back to the Sith's lenses.

The Sith took a step towards them. And Obi-wan took a step back.

The Force around him exploded in triumph.

"Obi-wan." He repeated slowly almost tasting his name. The smile was obvious even behind the mask.

Obi-wan was suddenly very aware of the nine-year-old in his arms.

"I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage," he said, trying to be as nonchalant as possible, "I do not know your name."

"You are right for once, Obi-wan," he said, approaching them slowly, backing him towards the end of the room, away from the door, "you _are_ afraid." He said, no doubt enjoying the emotions leaking from his flimsy shields, he took his saber out and lighted it up in a fluid movement illuminating the room in red. "And I do have you at a disadvantage, young one," he said, making a show of looking to his Padawan braid, "in more ways that you can possibly imagine."

There was nothing he could use as a weapon, nor any sign of where they were, or how they had gotten there. He was trapped, _they were_ trapped. He needed help. He needed… his Master. No! He couldn't think about him! Not now!

Darth Vader relished in the weakling before him. This was The Negotiator? He hadn't perfected that blank mask he'd hated for so long. He could read his emotions, his fear, his grief, his anger, they were all in display in his face and in the Force.

Without taking his eyes from the Sith, Obi-wan retracted his shields from the kid. "That may be true," he answered to their captor with a calm voice, "what's more, I daresay my disadvantages would make the fight most tedious for you," the boy stirred in his arms, "perhaps we could arrange a more interesting setting?"

"What-?" The sleepy voice of the kid brought a new feeling of weariness to Obi-wan, he needed him awake, he needed him to be able to run, but on the other hand him being awake would also attract the Sith's attention towards him. "What's going on?" Obi-wan let his charge get onto the floor and put him behind him.

"Obi-wan, sir?" the boy had realized they were in some kind of trouble if the sudden wariness in his voice was to go by.

"Stay behind, Anakin."

"You intend to fight me, Jedi?" the Sith now had them cornered, his lightsaber up in an attack position. "You think you'll be able to protect that pathetic whelp behind you? You really think either of you will leave this place alive?" Obi-wan felt two little hands hold on tight to his cloak. Force help him, he had to get that boy to safety. He couldn't let him die here. Maybe he could hold long enough for the boy to get out… if the door wasn't locked. "I will kill him, Obi-wan. And you will be too weak to stop me from taking the life of your student as you were too weak to save your Master."

Obi-wan's eyes narrowed as he clenched his teeth. How did he knew about his Master? How did he knew he'd taken Anakin as his Padawan?

"Why don't you allow me to duel, then. Or is it fear I could best you as I bested your apprentice what holts your hand?"

"I have better things in m-"

"Run, Anakin!"

Obi-wan pushed the boy with the force to one side as he charged the Sith, going for his saber. He was able to grab it, but he couldn't pull it out of his grasp, the Sith didn't appear to be very fast but he was strong. In the resulting struggle Obi-wan had to try to maneuver the saber away from him as the Sith tried to impale him over and over. He realized that either he was being the luckiest man in the Galaxy or the Sith was simply toying with him, nicking him with the saber in his legs and arms but without really causing serious damage. Superficial burns that hurt as all the Corellian hells but didn't really incapacitate him.

His strength was inhuman!

Obi-wan elbowed him in his chest were the controls of his respirator appeared to be, but the reciprocating punch was enough to throw him face first to the floor.

"Obi-wan!"

"Get out of here, Anakin!" He stood up facing the Sith, his back now to the boy, he could hear him near the door, he only hoped he could get out.

"The door ain't locked-"

"THEN GO!"

"You are both pathetic." The disgust in the Sith's voice was clear. He raised both of his hands sharply and Obi-wan felt himself being thrown with an incredible Force push upwards into the far ceiling, a yelp of surprise letting him know the boy had been thrown too. His back hit the durasteel with a sickening thump that left him breathless; the pained gasp of the kid however helped him focus, and when the Sith left them free fall from there he tried to concentrate to cushion as much as possible their fall.

They still hit the floor hard, and Obi-wan tried breathing through his pain. He couldn't black out now.

"You are nothing more than an orphaned Padawan who thinks he can raise the _Chosen One_."

Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no… this couldn't be happening. His master was… His master had been right. Anakin was the Chosen One. And the Sith knew. They'd known all along.

And he'd promised... he'd promised.

He would fail his master.

Obi-wan felt the Dark Side close around his throat, and now he couldn't breathe! He was lifted and claimed by the stretched hand that. He. Could. Not. Dislodge.

He trashed, and kicked, and felt his eyes bulge and feeling completely helpless he saw through his clouded vision how the Sith lifted his lightsaber towards his face, the heat off the blade making his eyes water, and with a slow deliberate movement he cut his Padawan braid.

Before passing out he could hear the deep mechanical voice saying "I think I'll be keeping this, you don't need it anymore after all."


	2. Chapter 2

Darth Vader wasn't breathing right. There was an uncomfortable oppression in his back and in his chest. But it could hardly bother him now. The sight of the fallen braid at his feet, and a limp Obi-wan in his hand was so very gratifying. He did however stop chocking him, carrying most of his weight with the force. A broken trachea would be a most unfulfilling death for his betrayer after all. And he did appear to be... real.

Flesh and blood.

…Both of them.

He spared a glance at the young blond child, whose crumbled figure, still in his slave clothes, made him avert his eyes quickly. He looked back to his young former Master. Obi-wan seemed… healthy, he noticed with disdain. He was missing the hard lines imprinted in a Galactic scaled War, the tiredness around his eyes, the thin frame that came with a protein bar only diet. He still had round cheeks; so innocent looking.

Hatred ran rampant through his veins. The old constant pain in his limbs rearing its head again. He could almost see the back of his Master walking away while the smell of his own burnt flesh filled his nostrils, pain as he'd never felt before-

A whimper made him look away. The kid was regaining consciousness. He was breathing hard and it was obvious he was in pain, but when the youngling raised his head and looked at them, his face turned from horror to anger, and then he stood up, glancing towards the door, and back again. The fear and anger were clashing toghether turning into… resolution?

"Drop him!"

His voice was so high, his hair was still long. And he was tense, like he was preparing to run or like he was preparing to fight. He looked around the room, before his eyes came back to him. His fist clenched.

"You're gonna be in a lot of trouble when the other Jedi get here." Said the boy trying to look him in the eye, and avoiding at all costs to look at the body of his new Master dangling in his grasp. "If you kill him they won't have you mercy."

His body was shifting with pent up energy and it was clear he was making his voice as menacing as he could. His efforts were laughable. It would be funny if he were any other person.

Vader gave one last look at his former Master before dropping him. The satisfactory thud of his body making the kid cringe.

The Sith Lord turned his full attention to the boy, and Anakin wanted to run, he wanted to hide, but most of all he wanted to be strong enough to punch that sleemo's mask off. But he wasn't. If Obi-wan couldn't fight him then he couldn't either.

"You were a fool for staying here." Said the big cloaked humanoid. Oh. Like it wasn't him who grabbed him with his magic powers and smashed him against the ceiling when he tried to run.

"You didn't let me go." Anakin really tried not to sound reproachful. His mom said it would only bring him trouble. But this loud-breather monster had mocked Obi-wan, and now his sacrifice would be in vain, and he always get angry when he get scared. And now he was terrified.

"You could have tried. Before." The red saber was still in the monster's hand. And he started approaching. "But you wasted your opportunity. You stayed for him." The tall monster made a gesture with his hand and the body of Obi-wan moved and a wave of relief and hope invaded him when he noticed his breathing. "He wouldn't have made the same thing for you." The monster finished viciously. Anakin stopped his own retreat with a frown.

"Of course he would," he rebutted, "Jedi save people."

_Jedi save people. _The sheer idiocy of his past self was astounding.

"Jedi save people?" The boy was so naive. No doubts as to how he've been manipulated for YEARS! Here, in front of him, was the one responsible for the life of slavery he could never shake off. This... Anakin Skywalker, so blind to the power of the force, so believing in the goodness of sentients, was the one who let himself be led for _Masters_ that told him what to do, where he could go or _not_, who he could cared for or not or how much he _was supposed to feel.._.

Anakin knew there was no point in screaming for help, there never was. He couldn't run from the monster. He couldn't fight him. He had to stall. There was a Jedi missing, surely there was someone looking out for them. He was just a big bad bully. Don't show fear, don't show-

There was a sudden hold in his neck chocking him. It was chocking him! He couldn't breathe! He couldn't- …Mom!

It was something he had wanted to do for so long! The frantic movements of the whelp only making it better.

"You are weak!" Darth Vader was finally getting rid of Anakin Skywalker, he was destroying his link to the past. "You are nothing!" The oppression in his chest tightened, it was annoying to the point of being painful but the Sith Lord didn't care. He would be free! The chains would be broken! The kid was losing strength, and he was feeling light-headed. Finally he would-

The Dark Lord of the Sith fell to his knees at the same time young Anakin fell to the floor. Both were breathing hard. The young one was choking and gasping for air, tears running freely for his cheeks. The terror he'd felt, that he was about to die, making him sob.

The Sith Lord had the advantage of artificial airways that weren't swollen, he just needed to breathe and... to think.

He had felt it. He had felt the young one's lack of oxygen. And now he tought about it, he had felt the pain when he had force pushed him. He'd only ignored it.

Vader recovered first, he stood up and looked to the boy who was still in the floor.

How could he feel the pain in the kid's back and chest like it was his own? Would he feel all the kid felt? He hadn't thought about _how_ them both had gotten here. He had felt a big disturbance in the Force the moment before they appeared out of thin air. And he knew not to trust the Force. He had never received anything but grievances when he'd trust it. And… it had come from the Dark Side.

Anakin saw the monster get up and look at him. But he couldn't move. Not when he got closer and not when he tried to get him up. His legs were shaky and he was still trying to calm himself, when the monster grabbed him tight from the arms and forced him up.

"Relax."

A strange numbness filled his head. He was feeling calm all of a sudden. He looked up to those insect like lenses where he could see himself and remained standing when the monster released his arms.

He had to know for sure.

Vader punched the boy hard. And as the boy fell to the floor with a scream he reared back from the pain. Oh, Kriff. Well, so much for a present sent from the force to kill his past.

Darth Vader looked to the boy at his feet and then to the young man in the floor.

The young version of his Master in the floor.

Well... maybe, maybe it could be a present after all.


End file.
